StemBioSys meets $8 million goal in initial financing

StemBioSys Inc., a privately held stem cell company based in San Antonio, closed its first round of venture capital funding this month after meeting its $8 million investment goal.

Proceeds from the initial round of preferred stock financing will be invested in the company’s new manufacturing facility, which recently opened in San Antonio, and to prepare for the commercial launch of its first product this summer. That stem cell culture system, known as High Performance Microenvironment technology, will be sold nationwide to stem cell researchers, universities and research organizations, said StemBioSys CEO Bob Hutchens.

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StemBioSys also plans to target potential customers in the private sector, Hutchens said.

The company plans to launch its next round of funding later this year or early next year to further expand distribution of its technology domestically and internationally.

“If we’re fortunate and we meet the plans we have, we’ll need to look at expanded manufacturing space (and) potentially some kind of distribution or sales force that would go behind that,” Hutchens said Tuesday.

Targeted Technology Fund of San Antonio led the initial round by investing $2.25 million. More than 50 angel investors also put in money, which helped StemBioSys meet its $8 million goal. Hutchens estimated 85 percent of those investors are in San Antonio.

The company’s technology allows the isolation and growth of stem cells derived from fat cells, bone marrow and umbilical cord blood and tissue. StemBioSys is working with 14 partners who are exploring the product’s potential therapeutic applications for blood diseases, neurological disorders and the liver, Hutchens said.

The company has eight full-time employees and a part-time chief financial officer. Its new manufacturing facility at the BioBridge Global complex on Interstate 10 West near Vance Jackson Road, became fully operational Jan. 1.

Technology is a key part of such companies’ success, but so is strong management, said Jim Dublin, chair of the Texas Research & Technology Foundation, which invested $100,000 in pre-seed money in StemBioSys three years ago.